Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone
by Mystical Bleeding Rose
Summary: Harry Potter and his twin brother, Alex, are orphaned when the Dark Lord kills their parents, the Dark Lord tries to kill Alex when the curse backfires. They have to live with their only living relatives who hate Harry, and treats him like a slave. Harry is bullied by his brother and cousin, Dudley, who are spoiled by his relatives. I own only the OCs, nothing else.
1. Chapter 1

******Disclaimer: I only own Alex, and any other new OCs, J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter. This is a Fanfiction, I am getting no profit from this.**

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**Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's**** Stone**

**Summary-**

Harry Potter and his twin brother, Alex, are orphaned when the Dark Lord kills their parents, the Dark Lord tries to kill Alex when the curse backfires. They have to live with their only living relatives who hate Harry, and treats him like a slave. Harry is bullied by his brother and cousin, Dudley, who are spoiled by his relatives. When Alex and Harry receive their Hogwarts letter they both enter a world they never thought would be possible.

**Chapter one- The Boy Who Lived**

Mr. and Mrs. Dursely, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Mr. Dursely was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursely was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Durselys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursely's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would  
say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had two small sons, but they had never even seen them. These boys were another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a children like that.

When Mr. and Mrs. Dursely woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursely hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursely gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.

None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. At half past eight, Mr. Dursely picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursely on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed,  
because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursely as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.

It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar- a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursely didn't realize what he had seen- then he jerked his head around to  
look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursely blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursely drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive- no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursely gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.

But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people  
about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursely couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes- the get-ups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursely was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursely that this was probably some silly stunt- these people were obviously collecting for something...yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursely arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.

Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursely, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.

He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.

"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Alex." Mr. Dursely stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.

He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Alex. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure if either of his nephews were called Alex. He'd never even  
seen the boys. It might have been Adam. Or Alexander. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursely; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her- if he'd had a sister like that...but all the same, those people in cloaks...

He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. "Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.

It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursely realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"

And the old man hugged Mr. Dursely around the middle and walked off. Mr. Dursely stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.

As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw- and it didn't improve his mood- was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes. "Shoo!" said Mr. Dursely loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursely wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.

Mrs. Dursely had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word- "Won't!". Mr. Dursely tried to act normally. When Dudely had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news. "And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's  
owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.

"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"

"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."

Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...Mrs. Dursely came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er, Petunia, dear, you haven't heard from your sister  
lately, have you?" As he had expected, Mrs. Dursely looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.

"No," she said sharply. "Why?"

"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursely mumbled. "Owls...shooting stars...and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."

"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursely.

"Well, I just thought...maybe...it was something to do with...you know...her crowd." Mrs. Dursely sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursely wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their sons- they'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't they?"

"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursely stiffly.

"What's their names again? Howard and Alexander?"  
"Alex and Harry. Nasty, common names, if you ask me."

"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursely, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree." He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursely was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursely crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did...if it got out that they were related to a pair of- well, he didn't think he could bear it.

The Durselys got into bed. Mrs. Dursely fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursely lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were  
involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursely. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind...He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get  
mixed up in anything that might be going on- he yawned and turned over- it couldn't affect them...How very wrong he was.

Mr. Dursely might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of  
Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.

A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been  
broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."

He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He  
clicked it again- the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursely, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down  
on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly  
the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.

"How did you know it was me?" She asked.

"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," Professor McGonagall said.

"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." Dumbledore said and Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.

"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," She said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no- even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Durselys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls...shooting stars...Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent- I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

"You can't blame them," Dumbledore said gently, "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

"I know that," Professor McGonagall said irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes,  
swapping rumors." She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

"It certainly seems so," Dumbledore said, "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"

"A what?" Professor McGonagall asked turning to look at him like he had lost his mind.

"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of" Dumbledore said popping a yellow candy into his mouth.

"No, thank you," Professor McGonagall said coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone-" She started.

"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense- for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."

"I know you haven't," Professor McGonagall said sounding half exasperated and half admiring, "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."

"You flatter me," Dumbledore said calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."

"Only because you're too, well, noble to use them."

"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." Dumbledore said, humor coating his voice. Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore.

"The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" Professor McGonagall asked. It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer. "What they're saying," She pressed on, "Is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are- are- that they're- dead. " Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. "Lily and James...I can't believe it...I didn't want to believe it...Oh, Albus..."Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

"I know... I know..." he said heavily. Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on.

"That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Alex. But- he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Alex Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke- and that's why he's gone." Dumbledore nodded glumly. "It's- it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done...all the people he's killed...he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding...of all the things to stop him...but how in the name of heaven did Alex survive?"

"We can only guess," Dumbledore said. "We may never know." Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a  
golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"

"Yes," Professor McGonagall said, "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

"I've come to bring Alex and his twin, Harry, to their aunt and uncle. They're the only family  
they has left now."  
"You mean Harry survived too?" Professor McGonagall asked

"Only because Voldemort went after Alex before he went after Harry." Dumbledore said.

"Are you telling me these are their relatives- you can't mean the people who live here?" Professor McGonagall cried jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore- you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son- I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Alex and Harry Potter come and live here?!"

"It's the best place for them," Dumbledore said firmly. "Their aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to them when they're older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?" Professor McGonagall repeated faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand Alex! He'll be famous- a legend- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Alex Potter day in the future- there will be books written about Alex- every child in our world will know his name!" Professor McGonagall all but yelled.

"Exactly," Dumbledore said, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?" Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind and swallowed.

"Yes- yes, you're right, of course. But how are the boys getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding both Alex and Harry underneath it.

"Hagrid's bringing him." Dumbledore said and Professor McGonagall had to bite her tongue to stop yelling at him and asking him if he was crazy.

"You think it wise to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?" She asked

"I would trust Hagrid with my life." said Dumbledore.

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," Professor McGonagall said grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to- what was that?" A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a  
headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky- and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild- long  
tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding two bundles of blankets.

"Hagrid," Dumbledore said sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore," the giant said climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got them, sir."

"No problems, were there?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, sir- house was almost destroyed, but I got them out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. Alex fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol." Hagrid said. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over one the bundles of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.

"Is that where-?" Professor McGonagall whispered.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, "He'll have that scar forever."

"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall asked as she took the other bundle of blankets and looked into the wide emerald-green eyes of Harry Potter as he watched everyone.

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well- give him here, Hagrid- we'd better get this over with." Dumbledore took Alex in his arms and turned toward the Durselys' house, he motioned Professor McGonagall to follow him.

"Could I- could I say good-bye to them, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss before doing the same to Alex. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

"Shhh!" Professor McGonagall hissed, "You'll wake the Muggles!"

"S-s-sorry," Hagrid sobbed, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it- Lily an' James dead- an' poor little Alex an' Harry off ter live with Muggles-"

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm before following Dumbledore as he stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Alex gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Alex's blankets, and then took Harry from Professor McGonagall's arms and laid him next to his older twin brother before him and Professor McGonagall went back to Hagrid. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the two little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

"Well," Dumbledore said finally, "That's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

"Yeah," Hagrid said in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall- Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.

"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundles of blankets on the step of number four. "Good luck, Alex, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Alex Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing him and his brother would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursely's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that him and his brother would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley...He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Alex Potter - the boy who lived!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

**Summary-**

Harry Potter and his twin brother, Alex, are orphaned when the Dark Lord kills their parents, the Dark Lord tries to kill Alex when the curse backfires. They have to live with their only living relatives who hate Harry, and treats him like a slave. Harry is bullied by his brother and cousin, Dudley, who are spoiled by his relatives. When Alex and Harry receive their Hogwarts letter they both enter a world they never thought would be possible.

**Chapter Two- The Vanishing Glass**

Nearly ten years had passed since the Durselys had woken up to find their nephews on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Durselys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursely had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets- but Dudley Dursely was no longer a baby- and now the photographs showed a large  
blond boy and a smaller black haired boy riding their first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a  
computer game with their father/uncle, being hugged and kissed by their mother/aunt.

The room held no sign at all that there was actually three boys that lived in the house, instead of two. Yet Harry Potter, the younger twin brother two Alex Potter, was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.  
"Up! Get up! Now!" Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. "Up!" She screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.

He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.  
His aunt was back outside the door. "Are you up yet?" She demanded.

"Nearly," Harry said throwing an arm over his eyes, hopping that just this once she would let him fall back asleep, but he had no such luck, he never did. Not since he had accidentally made his bowl of cereal explode when Dudley and Alex had been picking on him about his glasses, that had been when he was five.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday." She said and Harry groaned. "What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.

"Nothing, nothing..." Harry muttered, Dudley's birthday- how could he have forgotten? Harry slowly got out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept. When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise- unless of course it involved punching somebody, mainly him. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast. But if Dudley couldn't catch him then he would have Alex catch him, and then the both of them would have fun using him as a punching bag.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley or Alex, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was while Alex was closer to Harry's size, Alex's clothes were still to big for him and would fall off if not tied on properly. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair that came to his shoulders with a slight wave to it, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley and Alex had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his chest, over his heart that was shaped like a Snake in the form of and 'S'. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.

"In the car crash when your parents died," She had said. "And don't ask questions." Don't ask questions- that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys, well, at least for him, his brother Alex was able to ask all the questions he wanted, because he was not a freak like him. Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting. About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew fast, there was nothing he could do about it.

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley and Alex arrived in the kitchen with . Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Alex looked a little like Harry, enough to see that they were twins. He had short black hair that grew all over the place, and blue-green eyes, he was skinny, but not as skinny as Harry. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley and Alex looked like a baby angels- Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig, which usually got him a good beating from either Alex or Dudley.

Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. "Thirty-six," He said, looking up at his mother and father.

"That's two less than last year." Alex said as he recounted Dudley's presents, knowing that what ever Dudley got was basically his too.

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy." Aunt Petunia said pointing to the present, Alex lifted up the present from Aunt Marge and shook it.

"All right, thirty-seven then," Dudley said going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over like last time. Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too.

"And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?'' Aunt Petunia asked quickly to try and stop the tantrum. Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work.

"So I'll have thirty...thirty..." Dudley stuttered looking over to Alex for help who looked like he, too, was trying to figure that math out.

"Thirty-nine, sweetums," Aunt Petunia said and Harry tried to keep from rolling his eyes.

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily, Alex sat next him him, and they grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then." Uncle Vernon chuckled.

"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair. At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry, Alex, and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

"Bad news, Vernon," She said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction. Dudley's and Alex's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every  
year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him, Alex, and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned. "Now what?" Aunt Petunia asked, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy." Aunt Petunia said. The Durselys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there- or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't  
understand them, like a slug.

"What about what's-her-name, your friend- Yvonne?" Uncle Vernon asked.

"On vacation in Majorca," Aunt Petunia snapped glaring at Harry, as if -once again- blaming him for her friend being on vacation and not able to watch him.

"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer). Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

"And come back and find the house in ruins?" She snarled.

"I won't blow up the house," Harry said, but they weren't listening.

"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," Aunt Petunia said slowly, "...and leave him in the car..."

"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..." Uncle Vernon snarled. Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying- it had been years since he'd really cried- but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" She cried, flinging her arms around him.

"I...don't...want...him...t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs as Alex rubbed his back as if he was trying to calm him down while smirking at Harry. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, good Lord, they're here!" Aunt Petunia said frantically- and a moment later, Dudley's and Alex's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley or Alex hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Durselys' car with Piers, Alex, and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

"I'm warning you," He had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy- any funny business, anything at all- and you'll be in that cupboard from now until  
Christmas."

"I'm not going to do anything," Harry said. But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Durselys he didn't make them happen.

Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley and Alex had laughed themselves silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.

Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.

On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's and Alex's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Durselys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash  
cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.

But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley, Alex, and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles. "... Roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a  
motorcycle overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache

"MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" Dudley and Piers sniggered, surprisingly Alex didn't laugh, but he did give Harry a weird look.

"I know they don't," Harry said, "It was only a dream." But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Durselys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon- they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.

**~Two~**

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Durselys bought Dudley, Alex, and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.

Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Durselys so that Dudley, Alex, and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his Knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley, Alex, and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can- but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. "Make it move." He whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. "Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Alex moaned. He shuffled away with Dudley and Piers following him. Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself- no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. It winked. Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon, Dudley, and Alex then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."

"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying." The snake nodded vigorously. "Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.  
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. 'Boa Constrictor, Brazil.' "Was it nice there?" The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on 'This specimen was bred in the zoo.' "Oh, I see- so you've never been to Brazil?" As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" Piers yelled, it seemed that he had come back to look at the snake while Harry was talking to it. Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could with Alex right behind him.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened- one second, Piers, Alex and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leaped back with howls of horror.

Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and  
started running for the exits. As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come. Thanksss, amigo."

**~Two~**

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. "But the glass," He kept saying, "Where did the glass go?" The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Alex, Piers, and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley and Alex was telling them how it had nearly bitten off their legs, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers  
calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go- cupboard- stay- no meals," before he collapsed into a  
chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Durselys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food. He'd lived with the Durselys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his and his brother's parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a loud scream. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.

When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of someone of unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Durselys were his only family, not counting his brother. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him and his brother. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him and his brother once while they were out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Alex and him furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.

At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's and Alex's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's and Alex's gang. Harry new he was alone in the world, no one would ever be his friend because of Dudley and Alex. And with that Harry turned over and fell into a restless sleep as his stomach growled, hungry for food.


	3. Chapter 3

**Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

**Summary-**

Harry Potter and his twin brother, Alex, are orphaned when the Dark Lord kills their parents, the Dark Lord tries to kill Alex when the curse backfires. They have to live with their only living relatives who hate Harry, and treats him like a slave. Harry is bullied by his brother and cousin, Dudley, who are spoiled by his relatives. When Alex and Harry receive their Hogwarts letter they both enter a world they never thought would be possible.

**Chapter Three- The Letters From No One**

The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley and Alex had already broken Dudley's new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.

Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's and Alex's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader, while Alex was the second in command. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's and Alex's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.

This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley and Alex. They had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley and Alex thought this was very funny.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," Dudley told Harry.

"Want to come upstairs and practice?" Alex asked.

"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it- it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley or Alex could work out what he'd said. One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.

That evening, Dudley and Alex paraded around the living room for the family in their brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't  
looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life. As he looked at Dudley and Alex in their new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins and her Wittle Alex-walex, they looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.

**~Three~**

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water. "What's this?" He asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.

"Your new school uniform," She said and Harry looked in the bowl again.

"Oh," He said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet." He joked.

"Don't be stupid," Aunt Petunia snapped at him. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished." Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High - like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.

Alex, Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in all three with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Alex and Dudley banged their Smelting sticks, which they carried everywhere, on the table. They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.

"Get the mail, Dudley," Uncle Vernon said from behind his paper.

"Make Harry get it." Dudley demanded

"Get the mail, Harry." Uncle Vernon commanded.

"Make Dudley get it." Harry said.

"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley." Alex said smirking. Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Four things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and a letter for Alex, and another one for Harry.

Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives- he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake.

'Mr. H. Potter  
The Cupboard under the Stairs  
4 Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey'

The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.

"Hurry up, boy!" Uncle Vernon shouted from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke. Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, and handed Alex his letter before he sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard. "Marge's ill," He informed Aunt Petunia, "Ate a funny whelk-."

"Dad!" Dudley said suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"

"I got one too." Alex said showing Vernon who looked at it then to Harry, who was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.

"That's mine!" Harry said trying to snatch it back.

"Who'd be writing to you?" Uncle Vernon sneered shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge. "P-P-Petunia!" he gasped taking Alex's letter before he could open it and read it. Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.

"Vernon! Oh my goodness- Vernon!" They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry, Alex, and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley and Alex wasn't used to being ignored. Dudley gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.

"I want to read that letter," He said loudly.

"I want to read it as it's mine." Alex and Harry said together, both were furious.

"Get out, all three of you," Uncle Vernon croaked stuffing the letter back inside its envelope. None of them moved.

"I WANT MY LETTER!" Both him and Alex shouted.

"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.

"OUT!" Uncle Vernon roared and he took both Harry and Alex by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall before throwing Dudley out of the kitchen and slammed the kitchen door behind them. Harry, Alex, and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry with his glasses dangling from one ear, and Alex laid flat on their stomachs to listen at the crack between door and floor.

"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address- how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"

"Watching- spying- might be following us," Uncle Vernon muttered wildly.

"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want-" Harry and Alex could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.

"No," He said finally, "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer...Yes, that's best...we won't do anything..."

"But-"

"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took them in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense? It seemed to have worked with Alex, if we give it a little bit longer it will work with the boy." Uncle Vernon said, Alex and Harry shared a look.

**~Three~**

That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard. "Where's my letter?" Harry asked the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me and Alex?"

"No one. it was addressed to you two by mistake," Uncle Vernon said shortly, "I have burned it."

"It was not a mistake," Harry angrily angrily, "It had my cupboard on it."

"SILENCE!" Uncle Vernon yelled and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful. "Er- yes, Harry- about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking...you're really getting a bit big for it...we think it might  
be nice if you moved into Alex's room and share with him.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Don't ask questions!" His uncle snapped. "Take this stuff upstairs, now." The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one for Alex. It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed that wasn't covered with Alex's stuff and stared around him. He couldn't see the floor because Alex's stuff covered it with everything; dirty and clean clothes, books that he would never read, and old candy rapers. From downstairs came the sound of Alex bawling at their aunt.

"I don't want him in there...I don't want to share a room with him...make him get out!" Harry sighed and stretched out on his new bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.

**~Three~**

Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Alex was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked their uncle with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked their aunt, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Dudley was glaring at him. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.

When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's two more! 'Mr. H. Potter and Mr. A. Potter The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive-'" With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leaped from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry and Alex right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry and Alex had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Alex's and Harry's letter clutched in his hand.

"Go to your cupboard- I mean, your bedroom," He wheezed at Harry. "Dudley, Alex- go- just go."

Harry walked round and round his part of his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan. He would get his letter! Sadly his plan meant he had to tell his brother who he was now sharing a room with.

**~Three~**

The alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and him and his brother dressed silently. They mustn't wake the Dursleys. They stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights. They was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. Harry's heart hammered as they crept across the dark hall toward the front door- Harry leaped into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat- something alive!

Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face. Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry or Alex didn't do exactly what they'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour- not Alex because Alex had told Uncle Vernon that Harry had made him do this- and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the  
time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap.

Harry could see six letters addressed in green ink. "I want-" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes. Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.

"See," He explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "If they can't deliver them they'll just give up."

"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."

"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.

On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry and Alex. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips' as he worked, and jumped at small noises.

On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Alex and Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious  
telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.

"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry and Alex in amazement.

On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. "No post on Sundays," He reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today-" Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Durselys and Alex ducked, but Harry leaped into the air trying to catch one that was addressed to him.

"Out! OUT!" Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. When Aunt Petunia, Dudley, and Alex had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor. "That does it," Uncle Vernon said trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some  
clothes. No arguments!"

He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.

They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. "Shake'em off...shake 'em off," He would mutter whenever he did this.

They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer. Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley, Alex, and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley and Alex slept with Dudley snoring loudly but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering.

They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table. "''Scuse me, but are two of you Mr. H. Potter and Mr. A. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk." She held up two letters so they could read the green ink addresses:

'Mr. H. Potter  
Room 17  
Railview Hotel  
Cokeworth' and

'Mr. A. Potter  
Room 17  
Railview Hotel  
Cokeworth' Harry and Alex made a grab for the letters but Uncle Vernon knocked their hand out of the way. The woman stared.

"I'll take them," Uncle Vernon said standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.

"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared. It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Alex and Dudley sniveled.

"It's Monday," Dudley told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television." Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday- and you could usually count on Dudley and Alex to know the days the week, because of television- then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's and Alex's eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun- last year, the Durselys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. While Alex got thirty-eight presents. Still, you weren't eleven every day.

Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought. "Found the perfect place!" He said. "Come on! Everyone out!" It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there. "Storm forecast for tonight!" Uncle Vernon said gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!" A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them. "I've already got us some rations," Uncle Vernon said, "So all aboard!"

It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house. The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms. Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.

"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" He said cheerfully. He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all. As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the  
filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa and made Alex a bed with some of the blankets on the floor, leaving no blankets left for Harry. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under his old and thin jaket.

The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Durselys would remember at all that it would also be his birthday, because he knew they would remember it would be Alex's, wondering where the letter writer was now.

Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow. Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea? One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds...twenty...ten...nine- maybe he'd wake Dudley and Alex up, just to annoy them- three...two...one...BOOM. The whole shack shivered and Harry and Alex sat bolt upright, they glanced at each other before turning to staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.


End file.
